Slowly But Surely: Industrial Companies Are Going Social

The overall consensus is that the use of social media by the industrial sector is experiencing a very slow adoption rate. Industrial professionals such as engineers, technical managers, purchasing agents and research/development personnel, tend to sit on the sidelines and observe the conversations rather than taking part in them. Having a work related conversation via social media is easy, but to the engineer with 20 projects going on at the same time along with several “hot” production deadlines, posting a Twitter comment or a Facebook status just doesn’t fit into an average day.

However, social media usage is likely to grow among industrial professionals. Those starting a Facebook account grew from 59% in 2011, almost a forty percent year over year increase. Statistically this appears to be the hottest social media trend, however more than two-thirds of these professionals indicate that less than 20% of this content is work related. Long term indicators are that the increased use of Facebook has the potential of becoming a viable marketing tool.

According to a recent study done by GlobalSpec, participation in social media by industrial companies is as follows:

• 40% provide an online discussion community for customers
• 33% provide one internally for employees
• 26% use video
• 24% now have a company blog
• 9% are using Twitter

The world is becoming smaller as conversations become more and more international via the use of the social media. As this happens, companies have the opportunity not to just produce and sell a product, but to become a part of the conversation. For long-term stability and maximum growth, it is not only imperative for industrial companies to jump on the social media band wagon but they also need to get behind the wheel and start driving.